Poland established a parliamentary inquiry commission On Wednesday to investigate allegations of the former ruling party, Law and Justice (PiS), using Israeli-developed spyware Pegasus to monitor political opposition.
Last year, Polish media reported that the government had employed spyware on at least three occasions to monitor on those considered a nuisance to the government.
These findings corroborated the research of the cybersecurity surveillance lab at the University of Toronto, Citizen Lab, which probes the misuse of this internationally controversial spy program.
Those reportedly spied upon included prosecutor Ewa Wrzosek, renowned opposition lawyer Roman Giertych, and senator Krzysztof Brejza.
Wrzosek had been an outspoken critic of PiS’s judicial reforms. Brejza had led the election campaign of the opposition Civic Coalition party, which is home to current Prime Minister Donald Tusk, in 2019. PiS leader, Jarosław Kaczyński, has denied these allegations.
Journalists and human rights organisations first reported the existence of Pegasus in July 2021, alleging that authoritarian governments worldwide are using it against their adversaries.
